The present invention is directed to displaying, employing and otherwise treating data, and especially to treating data imported from one domain to an array of data sites defined in another domain.
For purposes of this description, the term “treating” data is intended herein to refer to importing, copying, moving, combining and mathematically or otherwise manipulating, calculating or handling data.
Treating data is an important function of business in various endeavors. By way of example and not by way of limitation, this description will address endeavors involving numerical data. More specifically, this description will address exemplary endeavors involving financial data. Other data may be advantageously treated using the present invention as can be understood by those skilled in the art of data handling systems and methods, such as computer program, computer system and computer method designers.
Prior art methods and systems for treating financial data have employed data treatment tools such as spreadsheets to view general ledger numerical data. However, programs employed for creating, generating or otherwise originating general ledger data used in the spreadsheets have provided data incompatible with the spreadsheet in some regard. By way of example and not by way of limitation, a first software program may generate financial results in a data format that may be imported, copied, pasted or otherwise provided for use in a spreadsheet. However, it was first necessary to adjust columns or rows in the receiving spreadsheet or otherwise recast the receiving spreadsheet to accommodate certain attributes of the imported data. Failure to properly accommodate attributes of imported data could result in lost results, improper results or other anomalies resulting from combining the newly-imported data with data previously residing in the spreadsheet. Data residing in a spreadsheet may include data in a data base from which a spreadsheet program picks data for filling the spreadsheet according to predetermined protocol.
A receiving spreadsheet may be employed in a shared mode among various sites in a business. Such sharing may be carried out in a private network or in a public network, such as the Internet. Establishing data with appropriate attributes to effect such network sharing adds another set of characteristics that must be accommodated when recasting a receiving spreadsheet to receive imported data.
Recasting a receiving spreadsheet to accommodate newly-imported data appropriately to maintain operational integrity by the receiving spreadsheet can be a time consuming and frustrating experience that users would prefer to avoid.
There is a need for a method and system for treating data that accommodates importing data to a receiving data treatment tool while substantially retaining operational integrity of the receiving data treatment tool without requiring substantial recasting of the receiving data treatment tool.